Posted by Instagram TV (IGTV) is a fairly new vertical video channel that users can access straight from their Instagram feed, but can also be accessed through its standalone app.
Launched in June 2018, IGTV’s videos are meant to be longer than the usual Instagram stories. If you’re a regular user, you can create a video that lasts 10 minutes max, as for the “verified users,” the videos can be extended up to an hour-long.
Long-form social videos are still underrated, as brands from all across the world are very slowly adapting to IGTV’s features due to more reasons. Some of the main ones are the significant time and costs investments that are necessary to produce quality IGTV videos.
Nevertheless, Instagram made a huge opportunity in early 2019: brands can now share one-minute previews of their IGTV content on the normal feed, thus allowing their followers to discover their IGTV videos much easily. The greatest thing about this update is that Instagram users do no longer have to leave the Instagram app in order to view and engage with IGTV content.
Why IGTV is Crucially Beneficial to Marketers
Out of all the popular social media networks, Instagram is the channel that’s truly listening and adapting to the navigation needs of its users. Some would say that Instagram’s way more beneficial and productive than Facebook when it comes to user engagement.
When IGTV launched, there was a lot of buzz and excitement. It didn’t last too much because IGTV’s interface and navigation faced several issues that most marketers couldn’t deal with. Since the recent changes, IGTV has become a highly viable option that provides huge opportunities and benefits to content creators and marketers.
Since users can now watch up to 60 seconds of video previews on the content creators’ Instagram feeds and profiles, IGTV content has skyrocketed in terms of user engagement. Marketers can now leverage Instagram’s platform to improve the discoverability of their videos, attract more attention, and provide more value to their target audience.
Besides the fact that IGTV videos can be displayed through previews in the news feed, they also get featured in the “Discover” section as recommended or related videos. On top of everything else, whenever you post IGTV content, your followers will receive notifications.
In a few words, Instagram has made sure that IGTV is going to get noticed.
Leveraging IGTV for Marketing Purposes: 6 Strategies
Instagram TV offers brands a lot of marketing possibilities, and any type of business can take advantage of them. Whether you promote luxury shoes, a best paper writing service and essay service, or a digital app, marketing your content through IGTV is definitely possible.
Repurpose Your Existent Videos
IGTV allows you to repurpose and reuse your already popular videos (or live videos) that you’ve previously posted on Facebook, YouTube, or any other social channel. The greatest benefit of all is that you get to access a new audience without having to make extra investments.
Another way to repurpose content on IGTV is to turn your text articles (how-to’s, short explainers) into vertical videos that fit IGTV’s style.
If most of your videos are horizontal, you’ll need to turn them into the vertical format. The key is to constantly test your videos in order to see how your audience reacts to your updates. If you find more success with repurposed live videos, focus on that. If your audience loves repurposed articles, stick to that instead.
Develop Exclusive Content
Fans crave to feel special. You can help them have that feeling by feeding them exclusive content on your IGTV channel. By developing behind-the-scenes videos, insider videos, and product-development stories, you can create a stronger bridge between you and your customers. The purpose of exclusive content is to help users feel emotionally connected to your brand.
You can also cover various events like speaking engagements, social gatherings, and trade shows. Another option would be to tell stories about your brand, upload expert interviews, or show viewers the ins and outs of your office.
Post How-to Videos to Highlight Your Products
If you’re promoting a unique product, creating explainer videos is one of the best ways to provide exclusive value to your customers.
The type of instructional content that you can develop is quite diverse: tutorial videos, webinars, how-to’s, did you know’, etc. By creating this type of content, you can easily announce your newest products and services without being too intrusive.
Moreover, you can also provide educational content that isn’t directly related to the products you offer. For example, if you’re a makeup artist, do your best to teach your viewers the best makeup strategies. If you’re a fitness coach, show your viewers how to execute certain exercises and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
Here’s another example. A popular paper writing service has leveraged IGTV content to showcase the work process of their professional essay writers. Viewers were shown exactly how the company deals with academic assignments, the team behind the scenes, and the final results. Two illustrative videos have increased the brand’s engagement by up to 80%.
Create a Recurring Show
IGTV could be considered a modern online television. If your goals and budgets allow it, develop recurring Instagram TV shows that viewers can watch only on certain days.
For example, Whistle Sports created the “No Days Off” IGTV series, a show that focuses on aspiring talents and success stories of various satisfied customers. Every week, they post new content that can be consumed by regular viewers.
Host Q&A Sessions
If you’re looking to improve your customer engagement and deliver value at the same time, you should consider hosting Q&A videos.
This strategy is simple.
Gather all the common questions that your Instagram followers and business customers address, create a useful video that answers the questions in detail, and share it on your IGTV channel. Make sure you use lyrics on your videos to make your videos easier to digest.
Feature Customer Success Stories and Testimonials
You can use IGTV to build social proof by featuring customer success stories and testimonials. If you manage to create authentic videos with real customers that have something to say about your brand and products, you’ll significantly boost your brand’s reputation.
The best way to do it is to get in touch with your loyal customers and ask them for a testimonial. In return, you can reward them with discounts or free products.
Another way to showcase success stories is to collect more video testimonials and compile them into a well-crafted video. You can cut and edit the parts that don’t suit the purpose of your video and publish it after.
Tips to Improve Your IGTV Success
Here are some good tips to keep into consideration while creating marketing videos for IGTV.
Vertical Videos Only
IGTV is built for vertical videos. Therefore, whenever you’re shooting a new video, make sure you do it right. Viewers are likely to skip your videos if they have to turn their head or switch their screen orientation to consume your content. If you have some good horizontal videos that you want to repurpose, always edit them first.
Keep it Short and Relevant
Even though Instagram allows you to post videos that are up to 10 minutes long, you should try your best to create short and relevant videos. Think about your customers – do you think they’ll want to spend nine to ten minutes watching something that they can watch in half that time?
Make sure you create a written outline before recording your videos. Focus on value, not on the number of minutes. Keeping your videos between two to five minutes is ideal.
Keep the Subtitles Up
In case you didn’t know, IGTV allows you to upload subtitles to your videos. Subtitles are important for more reasons:
First of all, some of your subscribers might be hard-of-hearing or deaf. By adding subtitles, you’re making your content accessible to them.
Secondly, studies show that 85% of social media users are watching Instagram and Facebook videos with the sound off. They may be at school, at work, in a bus station, they may not have headphones, and so your videos will be skipped unless they feature subtitles.
Leverage Hashtags
You should always use relevant hashtags on your IGTV videos, as they will improve your content’s reach and engagement. Make sure that you strike a balance between trending hashtags, branded hashtags, and industry hashtags. Try not to use the most oversaturated and general hashtags like #money, #food, #follow, etc.
Takeaways
If you’re a marketer, entrepreneur, or small businessman who regularly promotes content on Instagram, you should definitely give IGTV a try. Creating long-form videos might be scary at first. But once you get the hang of it, you will thank yourself for investing your time, attention, and money into this platform.
Take advantage of today’s strategies, tips, and tricks and start crafting your first IGTV videos. Analyze your business needs and your social media goals and develop the type of videos that suit your business plans!
This is a guest post by Peter Bunn. Peter is a real expert in studying and aussie writer who provides assignment writing in uk essay writing service. He is also a very successful blogger and content marketing specialist who wants to share his knowledge and tips for skills improving.